Fe Robinson UKCP, MBACP

About me

I am here to help you increase your well-being and create your own life choices.

Sometimes working out what kind of therapy you want, and who you want to see for it can be a daunting task. To help you, I've explained here the way I work and some of the reasons clients have come to see me in the past.

Therapy supports you in working out what is happening for you at the moment and in finding your own way forward. You can expect my undivided attention to help you make sense of what you need and want. I will creatively support you as you explore your current challenges and, if you want to, begin to make changes that leave you feeling better.

For some people it is enough in therapy to learn to cope with what you find challenging; for others therapy is about personal change and putting painful symptoms into the past. People seek support not only to help them through emotional difficulties, but also to enrich and enliven the lives they lead.

I work both with short term clients on single issues and with long term clients where challenges are more complex or intense. My commitment is to tailor the way I work to you, and to help you feel in control of what is happening so that the therapeutic relationship is useful and healing.

Example client issues:

Feeling low or depressed: sometimes clients find it hard to look after themselves and to do simple day to day activities. Others may be managing to do what they need to but feel that they have no purpose or hope for the future.

Feeling anxious or on edge (generalised anxiety disorder): many clients find they are worrying a great deal, with thoughts that run away with them or repeat in endless loops. Some have specific anxieties about certain situations, people or activities which they want to overcome.

Loss and bereavement: losing someone close is a dreadfully difficult experience, sometimes we become stuck in our grief and are unable to move on without help. Traumatic deaths can also complicate recovery.

Relationship issues, family issues and child related issues: many clients come wanting to make positive differences to their relationships, or to overcome painful memories from the past.

Emotional abuse, sexual abuse and domestic violence: having worked in a domestic abuse setting during my training I have a lot of experience of helping both women and men with these personal and difficult issues

Supporting couples in finding ways through differences and challenges in their relationship

Separation and divorce: the end of a relationship is a loss for which we grieve, even if we may have chosen to leave. I have worked with many people coming to terms with relationship loss, and the challenge of adjusting to a new life.

Low self-esteem: You may find you put everyone else before yourself, or that others seem to disregard your needs and expect you to fulfil theirs. Low self-esteem can be triggered from a wide range of other symptoms but in itself becomes self-fulfilling.

Post-traumatic stress disorder: flashbacks, panic attacks, heightened anxiety, lack of sleep, anger and low mood are all common symptoms of unresolved traumas. As an EMDR therapist I am able to help clients build the strength to be able to face and overcome events that impact them here and now, putting them in the past where they belong. This includes working with abuse from childhood or in adult life.

Lack of self-worth, and identity issues: Sometimes clients have lost a sense of who they are, and what matters to them, and do not value themselves. I am here to help develop a sense of what matters to you and how you want to bring that to life.

Panic attacks / panic disorder: Panic is far more common than people realise, and can be extremely debilitating. Fortunately it is a condition that therapy can help quickly and effectively, however severe the attacks.

Stress: When our ability to cope is overwhelmed by the demands put on us, we can become unwell physically and mentally at an alarming speed. Clients may be facing stress at work, at home, in social settings or a range of other ways.

Phobias: being unable to face specific situations can be very debilitating and leave people isolated and afraid. I can work with a range of phobias including agoraphobia

Attachment difficulties: Some clients have had difficult childhoods, in which they did not experience much love, or were often afraid. This may leave you feeling hard to love, and/or ambivalent about other people. Therapy can help develop a sense of love for yourself and others.

A search for meaning and spirituality: finding a connection beyond ourselves, and living a meaningful life are important themes for many clients, in a secular way therapy can help clients to work out their own meaning and spirituality

Obsessions, compulsions and obsessive compulsive disorder: Finding yourself ruminating about something continually, or feeling compelled to act in certain ways (for example repeatedly checking locks or arranging things at home in particular patterns) can be time-consuming and upsetting, getting in the way of day to day life

Addictions and leaning too heavily on supports such as alcohol & drugs: When we feel unable to cope we may use external supports such as substances, computer usage or other addictions to help us through. I have experience of helping clients unravel habits which once seemed an answer but now are a new problem.

Sexuality/sexual difficulties: when we are finding things tough, one of the places they often show up markedly is in our sex life. Therapy is a place where clients can talk openly about intimate issues, whether your sexual issue is a symptom of a wider problem or the main thing that is causing you angst.

Chronic fatigue syndrome and chronic pain: using Mindfulness I have been able to help clients both manage, and lessen symptoms of fatigue and pain.

It is not possible to give an exhaustive list here, you may want to talk about something you don't see mentioned. We are all unique, and our needs are no less individual. My role is to help you unfold and move along the path that is right for you.

I am a Psychotherapist, EMDR therapist and Couples Counsellor working with private clients. I hold UKCP Accreditation, am a BACP Registered Psychotherapist and am Accredited to provide EMDR by EMDR UK&Ireland. I work with Mindfulness with clients where appropriate. I am an NLP Trainer, and use a range of approaches that engage the unconscious, including metaphor, working with bodily experience, and hypno-psychotherapy.

Training, qualifications & experience

I work full time as a counsellor, during my career I have supported hundreds of clients, many for short periods of time and some over the long term. I work in Sheburn Village easily accessible from Durham City less than 2 miles away.

My early training was in NLP-psychotherapy (Neuro-linguistic programming) and hypno-psychotherapy, I went on to become a UKCP Registered Psychotherapist and Registered BACP Member. I draw on a range of approaches including Gestalt, Transaction Analysis, Symbolic Modelling, CBT, Existential and Psychodynamic. My main motivation is to give clients the particular kind of support that will most help them.

I am trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprogramming), a therapy which helps clients with events from the past, or worries about the future, that are intruding on their day to day life causing distress. I am accredited by EMDR Europe as a Practitioner or EMDR.

I trained as a Couples Counsellor through Jesmond Therapy Centre and work with couples as well as bringing my couples counselling knowledge to my individual work.

I am a clinical supervisor and provide support to both counsellors and psychotherapists to enable them to be at their best with their own clients.

Therapies offered

Fees

For individual clients having psychotherapy or EMDR I offer an initial session for clients to come and meet with me so that we can talk about their needs and work out if I am the right person to support them, this costs £40. There is no obligation to continue therapy after this introductory session. Once therapy begins, sessions cost £50 for each 50 minute session.

Couples Counselling costs £60 for each 50 minute session.

Clients are in control of the frequency and number of sessions, you can book further sessions at the end of your appointment if you wish to.

Further information

Sessions are available on Monday 12 noon-8.30pm, Wednesdays 12 noon-8.30pm, Fridays from 9am-5pm and Saturdays 9am-2pm in Sherburn Village just two miles from Durham.

Free on street parking is available outside the premises. There is a bus stop on the main road a few minutes walk from the property, from Durham bus routes 64, 22 and 204 stop in Sherburn Village. There is a bus approximately every 20 minutes on week days.